St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1887-04-07
Welded TO ADvENTURERs.
Indian Maidens Shamefully De-
ceived by Unprincipled White


Indian maidens shamefully De-
ceived by Unprincipled White
Men.
The Miami maidens have been thor
oughly plucked by the avaricious and char
acterless white men Of these parts. So
have most of the members of that unhappy
tribe, for that matter. but the fate of the
girls is perhaps the most sorrowful
Thirty years ago in an evil hour the
Miamis were induced by the prospect of
Immediate gain and by the persuasion of men
whom they regarded as friends to consent
to the abrogation of the treaty under which
they were to receive an annuity forever, and
TO accept in lieu thereof the gross sum of
$22l 900, to be paid to them in twenty-six
annual payments. The last payment was
made in 1881. At that time the once pow
erful Miami tribe was reduced to 321 men,
Ders, and the sum each received in settle
ment was $500.
Most of the Miamis were in this vicinity
on lands which the government had given
them. but only few of them showed any
| thrift as farmers. White spectators speed
lily gained control of their holdings, and
the Miamis became wanderers, refugees
and vagabonds. An exception was to be
mena's band, just south of this town. Me-
shin-go-mena was the last chief of the
Miamis, and his family. as well as others
that were with him. were of high order Of
| intelligence. They titled the soil with sue
cess, had many fertile acres. lived comfOr-
| tably, and were too shrewd and prOvident
as rule to be taken in by designing white
| men.
For many years the Miami maidens have
been sought IN marriage by white scOun-
drels and adventures who knew of their
wealth in land and expected to make some
thing by the transaction. With these girls
marriage with the whites is lofty
ambition, which no amount Of bitter
experience on the part of others
seems sufficient to eradicate. They are, as
rule, comely when young and those be-
longing to the old chiefs band have been
especially so, They have been heiresses
almost without exception, and in their
| simplicity they have not been able to real
ize that in most cases their suitOrS have
been mere fortune hunters of the basest
sort. Dozens of these poor girls have been
induced to contract marriages with white
ruffians, and it is not known that single
one of them has ever had reason to do else
than regret the day that she saw white
man.
In view of the unbrOken experience
which the Miami girls had had in marital
affairs, much surprise was caused here a
| few years ago, when an advertisement ap-
| pearing in local newspaper announced
| that Nancy Waca-conah, "a young Miami
| maiden, good looking, amiable, and neat,
and the owner of 200 acres Of excellent
land" would marry white man if
the right one presented himself. Efforts
were made to lead the girl off, and the sad
| fate of her sisters was pointed out to her.
| but she would not be advised. She felt that
| she was as good judge of human nature as
anybody, and her advertisement remained
in the paper.
| The replies received were numerous,
| Every worthless scamp in the country for
| fifty miles around responded, most of them
in person. and Nancy was fiattered almost
to the point of lunacy by the attentions
which she received. Some of the men
been worthy fellows. who might have
with the faulty which had characterized
all the other girls of her race Nancy finally
| selected from a score or more of ardent
suitors young man named Charles Hale,
and the marriage was speedily celebrated.
! Hale was man who never made success
of anything that he had undertaken, who
was indolent and wholly without ex-
perience in any winning pursuit. but
he was fairly good-looking, and for time
Nancy was the happiest girl in Indiana.
| She and her husband settled on her farm,
and for time they made an effort to cult
vate it. but it soon became evident that
Hale had no intention of working. On one
| pretext or another he induced her to sell or
| mortgage the land and give him the money,
until all was irretrievably gone. and then.
| with nothing but the charity of her people
| to rely upon, he abandoned her, taking up
with white woman and leaving the coun-
| try. Nancy could hardly be made
| to believe that the land which
had been hers and her fathers
| and grandfather's had PASSED from
her control forever. and that the white hus-
band for whom she had paid so dearly had
| abandoned her. but when she realized the
| truth her grief was uncomfortable. Some
of the older members of the tribe who still
, retain their lands took the girl in and gave
[ her home, and through the kindness of a
Wabash attorney an action for divorce has
| now been brought. In the bill Hale is
| charged with cruel and inhuman treatment
drunkenness and unfaithfulness. and there
are said to be plenty of witnesses to estab-
fish the allegations.